LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Rick Santorum's campaign slogan very well could be one word: doomsday.

To hear the Republican presidential candidate tell it, the United States will collapse under the weight of its health care system, and basic freedoms will be history. Iran will annihilate Israel and then South Carolina if Iran isn't blocked from building a nuclear weapon. And divorce will yield higher taxes for everyone.

The former Pennsylvania senator doesn't mince words in campaign speeches in which he describes how — in his view — the country is heading down the wrong path and the government is growing too big. Gloom and doom usually pepper his remarks.

And he often argues that America will falter if he fails to win the nomination and President Barack Obama wins another term.